NHC HURDAT2 · SPC Tornado Database
Hurricanes and Tornadoes That Hit Garrettsville, OH
Every tropical system within 75 miles since 1851 and every tornado within 25 miles since 1950.
Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated
5 tropical systems have passed within 75 miles of Garrettsville, Ohio since 1851, 0 of them at hurricane strength; the most recent was Sandy in 2012. Since 1950, 79 tornadoes have touched down within 25 miles, 8 of them rated EF3 or stronger.
- Hurricanes
- 0
- Tropical storms
- 5
- Tornadoes
- 79
- EF3 or stronger
- 8
within 75 mi, since 1851
below hurricane strength
within 25 mi, since 1950
22 deaths in all
What the records show for Garrettsville
None of the 5 tropical systems was at hurricane strength as it passed Garrettsville; the strongest was Opal in 1995, a tropical storm with 46 mph winds when its centre passed 10 miles away. The record near Garrettsville begins with an unnamed storm in 1902; the most recent system was Sandy in 2012, a tropical storm 43 miles away. Of the 5 systems, 2 have come since 2000. Garrettsville has more tropical storms and hurricanes within 75 miles than 46% of the 605 Ohio cities on this site. The strongest of the 79 tornadoes within 25 miles was an F5 on May 31, 1985; its path came within 7 miles, and it killed 18 people. Of the 79, 3 had paths within 5 miles of the city centre, and 38 have come since 2000. July has had the most tornadoes, 16. The most recent tornado was on August 12, 2025. Garrettsville has more tornadoes within 25 miles than 56% of the 605 Ohio cities. Hail has been reported within 10 miles 82 times since 1960, with stones up to 2.5 inches (tennis ball size). Garrettsville has more hail reports within 10 miles than 57% of the 605 Ohio cities.
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Tropical storms and hurricanes near Garrettsville
| Year | Storm | Closest | Strength when closest | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | SandyOct 31 | 43 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 3 |
| 2003 | IsabelSep 19 | 36 mi | Tropical storm (39 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1995 | OpalOct 6 | 10 mi | Tropical storm (46 mph) | Category 4 |
| 1989 | HugoSep 22 | 24 mi | Tropical storm (41 mph) | Category 5 |
| 1902 | Unnamed 1902 stormJun 29 | 20 mi | Tropical storm (40 mph) | Category 1 |
Strength is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, which is not the wind felt in Garrettsville: a hurricane's worst winds sit within a few dozen miles of its centre, and inland cities are usually past that.
Tornadoes within 25 miles of Garrettsville
By decade
- 2020s16
- 2010s17
- 2000s5
- 1990s15(1 EF3+)
- 1980s6(3 EF3+)
- 1970s9(1 EF3+)
- 1960s6(1 EF3+)
- 1950s5(2 EF3+)
| Date | Rating | Distance | Path | Killed / injured |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 1985 | F5 | 7 mi | 47 mi | 18 / 310 |
| Aug 5, 1956 | F3 | 22 mi | 0.1 mi | 2 / 0 |
| May 2, 1983 | F3 | 19 mi | 12 mi | 1 / 25 |
| Mar 1, 1955 | F3 | 21 mi | 2.5 mi | 1 / 6 |
| Jul 12, 1992 | F3 | 20 mi | 8 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 31, 1985 | F3 | 10 mi | 15 mi | 0 / 30 |
| Jun 3, 1973 | F3 | 9 mi | 12.9 mi | 0 / 1 |
| Sep 29, 1966 | F3 | 22 mi | 4.5 mi | 0 / 20 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | EF2 | 13 mi | 0.69 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Aug 24, 2023 | EF2 | 23 mi | 1.52 mi | 0 / 0 |
| Nov 10, 2002 | F2 | 19 mi | 10.1 mi | 0 / 0 |
| May 28, 1995 | F2 | 12 mi | 0.7 mi | 0 / 0 |
The strongest 12 of 79, by rating and then by deaths. Ratings before February 2007 are on the original Fujita scale.
Hail in Garrettsville
The Storm Prediction Center has 82 hail reports within 10 miles of Garrettsville since 1960, made on 57 separate days. Of these, 32 were 1 inch across or larger, and one reached 2 inches. The largest, 2.5 inches (tennis ball size), fell on August 19, 1968. The most recent report is from May 5, 2025. May has the most reports, 24.
Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather reports, data through 2025.
Weather by month in Garrettsville
The nearest NOAA station with 1991–2020 climate normals is Hiram, OH, 4 miles east of Garrettsville at 1,230 feet. July is the warmest, with an average high of 81°F and low of 60°F; January is the coolest, at 33°F and 16°F. July is the wettest at 4.3 inches of precipitation on average and February the driest at 2.7 inches; the year adds up to 44.1 inches over 94 days with at least a tenth of an inch. Highs reach 90°F on about 4 days a year, almost all from July to August. Lows fall below freezing on about 138 nights a year. Snowfall averages 62.9 inches a year, most of it in January. That 44.1 inches is more than at 100 of the 129 Ohio stations used on this site (78%). Newton Falls, 9 miles southeast, has its own station (Warren 3 S, OH): 40.8 inches a year, 3.3 less than here, and a July average high of 83°F against 81°F.
| Month | High °F | Low °F | Precip. in | Days ≥ 0.1" | Snow in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 33 | 16 | 3.3 | 9 | 20.4 |
| Feb | 35 | 17 | 2.7 | 7 | 12.5 |
| Mar | 44 | 25 | 3.4 | 8 | 9.9 |
| Apr | 58 | 36 | 4.0 | 9 | 0.7 |
| May | 69 | 47 | 4.1 | 8 | 0.0 |
| Jun | 77 | 56 | 4.2 | 9 | 0.0 |
| Jul | 81 | 60 | 4.3 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Aug | 80 | 58 | 3.7 | 6 | 0.0 |
| Sep | 73 | 52 | 4.0 | 7 | 0.0 |
| Oct | 61 | 41 | 3.8 | 8 | 0.3 |
| Nov | 48 | 31 | 3.2 | 8 | 5.3 |
| Dec | 37 | 23 | 3.4 | 8 | 13.8 |
| Year | 58 | 38 | 44.1 | 94 | 62.9 |
Averages for 1991–2020 at Hiram, OH (1,230 ft), from NOAA NCEI U.S. Climate Normals. Normals describe the station; the farther a place is from it, and the bigger the difference in height, the more its weather can differ.
Floods, thunderstorm wind and lightning near Garrettsville
Since 1996, the National Weather Service has logged 146 flood, rain, thunderstorm wind and lightning events that began within 10 miles of Garrettsville: 137 thunderstorm wind reports, 5 floods and 4 flash floods. They killed 0 people and injured 37, and the NWS estimated $6.2 million in property and crop damage. The strongest thunderstorm gust on record here was 81 mph, on June 22, 2006.
June 18, 2014: thunderstorm wind 8 miles from the centre of Garrettsville — 35 injured.
August 6, 2000: thunderstorm wind 5 miles from the centre of Garrettsville — 1 injured, $20,000 damage.
NWS: “Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and many large limbs in Parkman. One of the trees landed on a moving car.”
May 7, 2010: thunderstorm wind 6 miles from the centre of Garrettsville — 1 injured.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database, events whose starting point is on record, 1996 to June 30, 2026. Damage is the NWS estimate in the dollars of the year, not insured losses, and NWS notes that some reports are unverified.
Flood insurance claims, disaster declarations and FEMA risk ratings
Portage County, which includes Garrettsville, has been named in 12 federal disaster or emergency declarations since 1977, 6 of them major disasters (by incident: 4 severe storms, 2 biological emergencies, 2 snowstorms, 2 tornadoes). The latest major disaster declaration was Covid-19 Pandemic, on March 31, 2020. FEMA's National Risk Index gives Portage County a Relatively Low rating for natural hazard risk overall; by hazard: Relatively Moderate for tornadoes, hail, inland flooding, strong wind and lightning; Relatively Low for heat waves; Very Low for hurricanes. It models the county's expected loss from all 18 hazards it covers at $28.9 million a year, the 27th highest of 88 Ohio counties; of the hazards above, the largest share, $19.1 million (66%), is from inland flooding.
Claims: FEMA, OpenFEMA Dataset FIMA NFIP Redacted Claims – v3, summed over ZIP codes; payments in the dollars of each year, not adjusted for inflation. Declarations: Disaster Declarations Summaries – v2, by county. Retrieved October 25, 2026. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's OpenFEMA API, but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
Risk ratings: FEMA, National Risk Index county table, December 2025 (v1.20), retrieved October 26, 2026; ratings compare counties nationwide, are meant for planning and are no substitute for a local risk assessment. This product uses the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Risk Index dataset API or downloadable datasets but is not endorsed by FEMA. The Federal Government or FEMA cannot vouch for the data or analyses derived from these data after the data have been retrieved from the Agency's website(s).
What counts as a pass, the distances and the sources: how this storm history is built.
Cities near Garrettsville
- Windham, OH4 mi
- Hiram, OH5 mi
- Southington, OH7 mi
- Mantua, OH8 mi
- West Farmington, OH8 mi
- Newton Falls, OH9 mi
- Burton, OH11 mi
- Leavittsburg, OH11 mi
- Middlefield, OH12 mi
- Ravenna, OH12 mi
- Bristolville, OH12 mi
- Streetsboro, OH14 mi
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